1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a new and improved drawer guide assembly for a movable structure such as a drawer in a furniture article which allows for full or nearly fall extension of the movable structure. The drawer guide assembly contains mirror image assemblies, each comprising a guide rail mountable to the interior of a furniture article in a generally horizontally disposed position and a pull-out rail movable therein and mountable to the drawer, or other movable structure. Both the guide and pull-out rails are provided with one or more fix-position mounted rotatable rollers and upper and lower ledges which are in rolling contact with complimentary rotatable rollers, thus enabling forward and rearward horizontal movement of the pull-out rail and carried structure on the fixed guide rail.
2. Description of Prior Art
Various types of drawer guide assemblies are used for drawers housed by desks or cabinets and the like to enable extension of the drawers within the housing and the smooth and efficient operation thereof. Drawer guides are used in pairs with each two-part drawer guide including a drawer member, the pull-out rail, which is fastened either to the side of the drawer or underneath the drawer to support the drawer, and a guide rail fastened to the corresponding side of the interior of the furniture article. Fastening the pull-out rail underneath the drawer enables the use of a wider drawer within a drawer opening of a given width.
The majority of drawer guide assemblies limit the travel of the pull-out rail to a distance shorter than the depth of the associated drawer such that the rear wall of the fully open drawer remains within the associated cabinet; nearly full or full extension of the pull-out rail and thus the drawer itself is not possible. Assemblies of this type, called "partial slides," hinder visibility and accessibility of the rear region of the drawer which remains within the cabinet.
Drawer guide assemblies of the type of the present invention generally have a pull-out rail roller at or near the rear end of the pull-out rail and a guide rail roller at or near the front end of the guide rail. The pull-out rail roller rolls in a track within the guide rail and a portion of the pull-out rail serves as a rolling surface for the guide rail roller. Generally, such two-part drawer guides also include a stop means which limits the extension of the drawer to only about three-fourths of the way because as the pull-out rail roller rolls forward on the guide rail and approaches the guide rail roller the front of the drawer tends to sag or cantilever under the weight of the drawer and its contents.
Drawer guides which allow nearly full and full extension of the drawer, "full slides," and "over slides" in which the associated drawer can be withdrawn so far out of the cabinet that its rear wall is approximately flush with or even slightly in front of the front surface of the cabinet, are highly desirable.
Currently existing full slides are constructed as a combination of three parts rather than two parts, using either an additional rail member disposed between the pull-out rail and the guide rail, or an additional running rail portion which is tiltable about a vertical or horizontal axis. In the former construction, to enable full extension, an additional member is disposed between the pull-out rail and the guide rail in combination with additional rollers to prevent sagging or cantilevering of the drawer when fully extended. In the latter construction, as the drawer is extended outward an additional running rail portion is swung by an automatic control downward about a horizontal axis or outwardly in front of the rear wall of the drawer about a vertical axis such that the drawer may be slid out further. At full extension, the additional running rail portion is in alignment with the actual running rail, thereby making an additional opening pathway available to allow a complete opening of the drawer. In either construction, such three-part full extension drawer guides are highly complicated and very expensive. In order to obtain the desired advantages, such as easy running, a high load bearing ability, and a high transverse stability in the fully open state, these devices are constructed of multiple pieces which must be precisely manufactured and assembled at significantly high cost and labor intensity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,443, for instances, presents a rather complicated and seemingly expensive drawer guide which has pivotably connected to the inner end of the running rail a hollow profile section which pivots from a position in which it is in alignment with the running rail to a position in which it is in the plane of the drawer bottom and substantially parallel to the rear wall of the drawer. Aligned orientation with respect to the actual running rail in the further open state is effected by means of cage mounted rolling bodies.